An Internet hub with domestic and international news, analysis, original reporting, and popular features from the left, center, indies, centrists, moderates, and right
Kentucky Blues
I’m normally loathe to call races over a year in advance, but with incumbent (and indicted) Kentucky Governor Ernie Fletcher (R) starting the race down a staggering 28 points to the Democratic nominee, Steve Beshear (34/62), I think we can fairly say he’s toast.
Good lord, are those bad numbers for an incumbent.
opinions powered by SendLove.to
12 Responses to “Kentucky Blues”
So much for the Democratic Party being dead in the South. And remember, Bashear was the most liberal of the three Democratic nominees running in the primary. He’s no DINO. If he’s elected we’ll have a Democratic Governor in KY, TN, NC, VA and WV. OH just elected a Dem and IN and MO are likely to vote in a Democrat in November as well. That’s the “heartland” right there.
“I’m normally loathe to call races over a year in advance,”
The election is this November not next year.
I know that Pelosi’s “Culture of Corruption” was just a campaign slogan to get the Dems back the majority. But its kinda spooky that even after the election, more corrupt Republicans keep crawling out under the rocks they were hidden in. 5 in Congress are being investigated by the FBI, and the gov of Nevada is being investigated for bribery. ’08 may yet be a very good year for progressives.
Elrod,
It is just more on an indication that the U.S. is going to become a one party state. Image four or eight years of Democratic governors in those states with 12 million mexican voters getting their citizenship in that time. Republicans wil not be able to win any election by then and most states will begin to resemble Mass. or DC in the way that local politics works.
superdestroyer you are far too pessimistic I think. I’m not ordinarily a big fan of any politician. Republicans, especially those running on social conservatism, I don’t like because I’m mostly a social liberal, so their “values” don’t coincide with mine, and especially don’t allow for me to follow my path while letting others follow theirs. Also I find repugnant those who stand on a moral high-horse while not living those ideals (see Newt). One good thing about them though, many of them seem to be true believers. I don’t share the beliefs, but I’m often inclined to think their beliefs sincere. This I cannot say of most Democrats, who ostensibly share more of my values (except on immigration and race issues) but are so often such wimps that it makes them look like empty bowels into which you pour opinion polls. There are exceptions (like Obama…knock on wood) but democrats have a knack for capitulation that boggles the mind.
My point? Both parties have weak spots, and neither party is likely to ever hold the majority for ever. This administration is so inept, the American people are so angry, and the Republican Congress has been so late to react, that yes, it’s very likely that the presidency will go to the dems in ’08 and the Congress will stay democratic, but that need not be permanent. People are WAY too slow to react, but if democratic leadership is as bad as this administration, they WILL be voted out. The legalized immigrants may START with democratic leanings yes, but you must remember that most of them are socially very conservative. The only reason the GOP can’t get to them is because they are amazingly inept at courting minorities, but where there’s a will…
lynx,
Kentucky is over 80% white. If the Republican cannot be competative in a state like that, there is no hope for them. This should be a state the the Republican dominate but of course since Republicans seem imcapable of carrying through on anything they claim to believe, white voters will switch to the party that is at least good at delivering goodies.
When you claim that people will switch their votes if the Democrats screw up, I believe you are really saying that white voters will switch their votes. Areas like DC, Detroit, Newark, LA, etc should convince anyone that no matter how bad politicians do, blacks and hispanics will never vote for Republicans. Since that population is growing relative to whites, there are fewer people every year who would even get mad and vote the bad ones out.
SD- You act like only minorities keep people in who are corrupt- but that’s not true. Look how many times Tom DeLay was reelected by his conservative, white, Christian district, who believed that he was a good man and would represent them and the country with honor. It took an indictment for him to realize that he wouldn’t win in ’06. Another example is the governor of Nevada who was elected by a white Republican majority after leaving congress under an ethical cloud. You can’t exactly make the claim that Republicans have provided their constituents with good government, no matter what color they are.
kritter,
You should look at elections like when Arkansas voted out Tim Hutchinson where he cheated on his wife with a subordinate. When was the last time that a Democratic Party nominee lost because of infidelity?
There are many times when Republican incumbents lost in primaries due to scandals. A member of the Congressional Black Caucus has ever been voted out of office by black voters due to any scandal. It took white republicans crossing over in the Democratic Primary to vote Cynthia McKinney out of office and it is just a matter of time until she comes back.
You would have a better point if you could point to the Republican Marion Barry or Coleman Young.
In the end it still means that the U.S. will be a single party state and with virtually no turn over in elections.
What a crock of you know what. Cynthia McKinney was voted out of office by her mostly African American constituancy not once but twice.
And you don’t even attempt to address the Tom Delay comparison.
Why? Because it doesn’t fit into your viewpoint which I have to say is just a teeny bit race based.
Davebo,
Cynthia McKinney was voted out the first time when the whites in her district crossed over during the Democratic Primary voted her out. Congresswoman MckInney went to federal court and claimed that her civil rights were violated because white Republicans could cross over and vote against her.
She lost the second time when whites voted in a Democratic primary runoff for her black opponents.
In other words, black voting had no effect on her losing. It was whites who decided the issue.
Tom Delay dropped out of the election after getting involved in controversy. He would have been voted out in the general election if he had run in 2006. That is something that Cynthia Mckinney never had to worry about.
One possibility of course is for the Republican Party to actually try to address the goals and desires of the African-American and Hispanic citizens of this country. If they refuse to care about the needs of millions of Americans, then there should be no mystery, and little sympathy, when they lose elections.
Karl Rove for a decade has argued that if the Republicans just took certain positions and made certain overtures that it would gain Hispanic and black votes. Both pushes have been horrible failures.
Just look at the immigration bill. If it passes, it will cause many more whites to stop voting Republican than it will ever gain in Hispanic votes.
What I find amazing is how many people who can understand structural deficits but do not seem to want to admit that cultural deficits exist for the Republicans.
There real question is what will the U.S. be like as a single party state. What happens in a single party state if the Presidential primary is in February and everyone will know who the president is 11 months before he takes office.